Jaipur, Sep 16 — The Rajasthan government has defended the OBC reservation provided for local body and Panchayat elections, telling the High Court on Wednesday that the reservation was determined on the basis of the OBC Commission's report following a door-to-door survey and analysis of available data.

According to the state government's response, OBC reservation for the elections was allocated through a lottery process based on the Commission's recommendations.

The state government's response comes amid preparations for the reservation lottery for posts including Pradhan, Panchayat Samiti members, Sarpanch and Panch.

The reservation lottery for the 41 Zila Pramukh posts in the state's Zila Parishads was held on August 13.

Five posts were reserved for the OBC category, including two for OBC women.

The issue has become contentious over the level of OBC reservation and the manner in which it was determined.

The reservation lottery process for other Panchayati Raj posts has also been postponed.

In its response, the state government said that the OBC Commission recommended the reservation quota after conducting a door-to-door survey and analysing available data, including information from the Jan Aadhaar database.

The state government said that reservation for the SC, ST and OBC categories has been kept within the 50 per cent ceiling prescribed by the Supreme Court.

It said that, given the existing reservation structure, the OBC quota cannot be increased beyond the prescribed limit.

The High Court had sought the state government's response after questions were raised over the number of OBC-reserved Zila Pramukh posts following an increase in the total number of Zila Parishads.

Petitioner Radheram Godara said that the number of Zila Pramukh posts increased from 33 to 41 following district reorganisation and the creation of new districts, but the number of OBC-reserved posts did not increase proportionately.

The reservation lottery held on August 13 resulted in five of the 41 Zila Pramukh posts being reserved for OBCs.

Jalore, Bundi and Khairthal-Tijara were reserved for OBC candidates, while Beawar and Sikar were reserved for OBC women.

Godara subsequently approached the High Court, saying that five OBC-reserved posts had been provided when the state had 33 Zila Pramukh posts and that the number should have increased proportionately after the total rose to 41.

The reservation distribution for the 41 posts includes eight posts for SCs, seven for STs and five for OBCs.

Together, these account for 20 of the 41 posts, or about 48.78 per cent, keeping the combined reservation below the 50 per cent ceiling.

According to petitioner's counsel Anand Sharma, the state government has not made the OBC Commission's report public.

Sharma has questioned why OBC reservation has been fixed at 16 per cent instead of 21 per cent.

He also said that 18 per cent reservation had been provided in 2020 and added that, based on that figure, the number of OBC-reserved Zila Pramukh posts should have been higher.

The petitioner's side has submitted a rejoinder to the state government's response, and the matter is expected to come up for hearing next week.

Separately, reports on the OBC reservation recommendations for Zila Parishad member seats said that the Commission had recommended 192 OBC-reserved seats out of 1,403 Zila Parishad wards, or 13.68 per cent.

The OBC Commission's methodology and report have become a central part of the dispute.

While the state government has said that the Commission conducted a door-to-door survey and examined available data before recommending the quota, the petitioner's side has questioned the basis and transparency of the recommendations.

The High Court's proceedings will determine how the competing arguments over the reservation calculation are addressed.

The Congress has also raised the issue of OBC reservation in Panchayati Raj and urban local body elections.

The party has constituted an 'Aarakshan Bachao Prakoshth' (Save Reservation Cell) to raise the issue and has alleged that the reservation figures were reduced arbitrarily.

The state government's position, however, is that the reservation has been determined on the basis of the OBC Commission's recommendations and within the overall 50 per cent reservation ceiling.

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